The sky is darkened with the threat of an encroaching thunderstorm. The wind swirls about with its melodious tune
making the grass of the fields dance and sway to the sound of nature. Thunder cracks and lightning breaks forth to
illuminate the scene laid before us.
A man not tall in stature, but noble of heart stands alone amongst this
impinging darkness. His sword welded
within his iron grasp is ready to do his masters biding. Fear does not penetrate his thoughts. Surrounding our warrior is an evil which
cannot be matched within our world. The
enemy is grotesque…perverted in ways man cannot fathom. But these creatures are not human. Their eyes glow red from the flame of hate
which dances about inside of them. Their
teeth are coated with flesh and filth.
Acidic slime forms at the corners of their mouth. Grungy, falling-out, black hair favors the
fortunate few. Scars coat these demons
from head to toe. The evidence of fear
and torture emits from every fiber of their beings. What’s left of their mind is riddled with
this one thought, “Kill this fleshling
before me!” This army is birthed in
Hell.
Our lone soldier knows the odds. He is not frightened, yet the thought of
disappointing his master with a failure grips his heart. In his last moments before the enemy’s charge
he calls upon his god, “I cannot win this battle without you! Save me from my enemies! Lord, I need you!”
The sounds of nature create a mellow sonnet as the
hounds of Hell begin their advance. The
king’s warrior grips his sword and makes ready his shield in preparedness for
the onrushing evil. More lightning
brightens the sky and more thunder rumbles the earth. However, after the thunder's solo the earth
continues to shake. The surrounding
mountains begin to tremble and quake.
Hailstone and flaming coals fall forth from the heavens. Trumpets sound, and the dark cloud part to show
four magnificent godlike creatures soaring downward to the earth below. Yet, these creatures with four heads, wings
of gold, and armor layered with diamonds are the not the leading focus. Sitting atop these demigods is the most
glorious, the most majestic, the most royal and grandiose figure of all. Yet in his glory, there is a fear the
proceeded him…a fear to anyone that should harm His children.
Our warrior’s prayer has been answered. His Lord came down from on high to vanquish
his enemy. The evil horde which had seemed so terrifying was obliterated in the blink of an eye and sent forthwith
back to Hell. The battle is won!!!
Psalm 18:3-13
“I call upon the
Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The chords of death encompassed me; the
torrents of destruction assailed me; the chords of Sheol (Hell) entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my
God I cried for help. From his temple he
heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the
foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and
devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick
darkness was under his feet. He rode on
a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy
around him, thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke
through his clouds. The Lord also
thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice…”
The scene painted at the
beginning was not too hard to create.
All I did (as you may have noticed) was just elaborate
on that which David has written here in Psalm 18.
Psalm 18 has been one of my
most favorite chapters ever since I accepted Jesus into my life almost two
years ago. Just recently I decided to
memorize it. Since I have been dwelling
upon this chapter God has been revealing some things to me and that is what I
want to share.
The first thing God showed me was the manner
in which David prays to Him. In verse 3
David says, “I call upon the Lord…and He saves me.” David asks for God’s help
and God sends it. The thing though that
I caught in this verse was the picture David paints of the simplicity of
prayer. How I see this verse is David
just picks up his phone and asks God if He has some time to
chat. So many people today (myself included)
think praying is this sacred (to an extent, yes) time of in-depth seeking and
asking followed generally with tears and hours of turmoil while we talk
with our heavenly father. Something I
realized in this last week and a half of memorizing and studying this passage
is something everyone is told as a child…prayer is simply talking with God. We humans make prayer out to be a complicated
thing. The reason I highlighted the word
“talk” is because that’s what prayer is.
My prayer is that for me, and every other believer, that we don’t get so
wrapped up in the religiosity of praying that we forget that prayer is a simple
matter of conversing with Jesus.
The second thing that I took from this passage is the fact that God,
in all his glory and might, takes that time to come to earth shaking mountains,
trembling the earth, and raining fire to fight an enemy which he has been
fighting from the beginning of time for one little human being. The love Christ has for us is immense…but
yet, it is still forgotten. Christ’s
love is what I’ve been reminded of in Psalm 18.
The first commandment is Love God and the second is love your
neighbor. If you bake the gospel down
it’s all about love. Sometimes we have a
tendency to forget what God has done for us.
This passage in Psalms has reminded me of the love that Christ has
specifically for me as an individual.
Jesus doesn’t love us as a group, He loves each one of us
as a separate and distinct person.
So my challenge from God, and
I encourage you to join me, is this: remember daily what Christ has done because
of love and don’t complicate that which is not meant to be complicated. Prayer: just talking with Jesus.
